


Necessary Sacrifices

by Tshilaba



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 08:50:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5369192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tshilaba/pseuds/Tshilaba





	Necessary Sacrifices

November 13, 1974 was a cold day, even for the baby girl born at seventeen after seven in the evening. What little hair covered her small head looked as if it would grow to be a straw-like color, far different from her elder sister's dark raven hair. And her eyes, uniquely enough, looked like liquid amber only moments after her birth. But her body seemed very small for a newborn's, almost frail, as if it were a clue to how vulnerable she would be in the years to come.

Seven year old Arachne leaned close to the nursery window to watch her baby sister. She could hear her parents coming down the hall and glanced over at them. She could see they weren't entirely happy with her sister's birth; it almost seemed as if another girl was they last thing they wanted... “What are you gonna call her, Mama?”

The woman sighed softly. “Medusa Philomena Gorgon,” she answered after a few moments.

“Ohh...” The raven-haired girl looked back at her little sister. It fit the girl, somehow, even if she didn't really know why. “Why's she so small?”

Her father shrugged. “The doctors don't know. She's healthy, so she'll likely just be small for her age.”

“Guess that means I'll have to keep a careful eye out for her, huh?”

“She's your sister; that should be your first instinct.”

“Right, right. Sorry, Daddy. So, are we gonna bring her home today?” She looked up at her father curiously.

* * *

Arachne sat on the floor of her little sister's nursery, watching through the bars of the crib as she slept quietly. _They say she's healthy, but she barely makes a sound unless she's hungry or needs to be changed_ , she thought. _It almost makes me wonder if she's underdeveloped somewhere else..._ She sighed and reached into the crib to touch Medusa's hand, smiling as tiny fingers curled around her own. “I guess you just figured out it's easier to learn if you're quiet, huh?” she whispered.

The tiny blonde opened her golden eyes and giggled quietly in response.

The raven laughed. _Being a big sister is easy..._

* * *

Three years later, she was eating her words.

Truly, there was nothing worse than an overly curious toddler. The blonde managed to get into _everything_. And she was constantly asking questions, or wandering off to figure out something on her own. The raven-haired girl almost wanted to handcuff the little girl to her wrist sometimes. Anything to make it easier to watch her. 

The current Friday afternoon, however, was a quiet day. As Arachne finished her homework to get ready for a sleepover, Medusa was sitting on the top bunk, playing with her stuffed snake. Even if they weren't often, the times when the blonde got lost in her own little world were the times her older sister was eternally grateful for.

After a few minutes, Medusa looked up to watch her sister. “Hey... Sis?”

“What is it?” Arachne said, not looking up from her papers. Just three more algebra problems...

“If you could be any animal, what would you be an' why?”

The raven bit back a sigh. After the girl had started talking just after she turned two, she almost never shut up; she was honestly surprised her little sister didn't talk in her sleep. “That's easy. I'd be a spider, because spiders are the most unique and beautiful creatures on earth.”

“Nu-uh! Snakes are!” the blonde giggled, throwing her stuffed snake across the room so that it landed on her sister's desk.

Arachne rolled her eyes. _Three year olds..._ She pushed the snake off of her papers and went back to to the problems. 

When it became clear that the snake-missile wasn't enough to get her older sister's full attention, Medusa pouted for a moment before climbing down the ladder and walking across the room to peek at her sister's work. “Sis...”

The raven ignored her little sister's petulant whine. She knew that homework had to be finished before they could play.

The blonde frowned before walking off on her own. If her sister wouldn't entertain her, she'd entertain herself. Maybe she'd go play outside...

Arachne looked up after she put her completed homework away in her bookbag. “Medusa?” She frowned. She'd needed her sister to stay where she could watch her because their parents had left to go get the movie for the sleepover. “Crap...” She hurried out of her room and downstairs. _Damn it, Medusa, why do you have to be such a pain in the ass..._

Unaware of her sister's irritation, the young blonde was climbing up one of the taller trees in their backyard, intent on reaching the hole that seemed to be drilled into the trunk near one of the highest branches to see what lay inside. She giggled softly to herself. “I wonder if it'll be a pretty snake. Ooh, or maybe it'll be a cute bird!” She finally reached the branch, balancing her slim frame across its surface, cautiously peeking into the hollow.

A small pair of eyes peeked out from behind a bushy tail to stare into her golden ones. The squirrel chattered softly at her.

“Hi little one,” she said quietly, slowly reaching her hand out along the tree's surface. She stopped a few inches short of the squirrel's tail, allowing it to close the rest of the distance on its own. “It's okay, I won't hurt you. I promise.”

“Chi...” The sound it made was almost mouse-like. It sniffed the blonde's outstretched hand tentatively, small nose twitching erratically. Edging forward slowly, it touched its nose to the tip of her index finger. Then, it slowly opened its mouth and lightly nibbled the same finger.

Medusa smiled. It was hard to see the exact color, but she had a good feeling that she was looking at a red squirrel.

The squirrel chattered a bit more and then scampered out and up her arm to her shoulder, sticking its nose near her ear.

She sat up, using her hands to keep her balance on the branch. “Where's your family, little one?”

A squeak.

“Oh. You must be a big grown up squirrel. I can't wait to grow up myself. Then I won't be told “do this” and “do that”. I--”

“MEDUSA!!”

The sound of her sister's voice made her jump, causing the poor squirrel to go tumbling off of her shoulder and plummet to the ground, unlucky enough to not have any branches in its path. She frowned. “Meanie!” she shot back angrily. “You killed him!“

“Meanie?” Arachne cried incredulously. “Get out of that tree, you little brat! You know Daddy told us not to be in it! It's dangerous!”

“Don't care! You wouldn't play with me, so I found a squirrel to play with! And you killed him, you meanie!”

“Who gives a damn about a stupid squirrel?”

Medusa went red in the face. She huffed angrily and started climbing down the tree.

“Finally...” Arachne sighed. She hated that her sister almost always refused to do things unless she explicitly wanted to.

The blonde marched right up to her older sister and slugged her in the stomach. “He's not just a 'stupid squirrel'. He was my friend. And you killed him. You don't even care about me being happy!” she screamed before running inside.

The raven rubbed her stomach gingerly, frowning. Even if her sister was small for her age, she could put a lot of force behind her blows. “What the hell was that for... Of course I care about her being happy...” She rolled her eyes and sighed, heading inside.


End file.
